What is this weird fungus on dead fish?

[SupersoNick95]

• pH: 6.8
• Nitrates ≈10ppm 
• Hardness: 20ppm
• Nitrite: 0ppm
• Ammonia: 0ppm
• KH/Buffer: 40-60
• Water Temperature: 75-79 (read below) 

so I recently noticed this red phantom tetra had a large weird spot on its side and assumed he had gotten injured when I was attempting to grab another fish out of my tank to donate. I couldn’t get any pictures unfortunately. Next day I Saw a couple small white spots, which looked like common sign of ich on another phantom tetra. 
 

after the fear of ich had set in, I raised the temp of the tank from 75 to 79, slowly over the course of a day. I also added aquarium salt to try and combat any ich or fungus while I waited for Ich X to come in the mail. I used Cory’s recommended 1 tbsp per 3 gallons. 
 

I had to leave the house for a day so I turned off the lights to let the fish calm down. 
 

came back home 24 hours later and found the image below. The tetra which I had assumed was injured had in fact developed a type of fungus and was dead belly up in the tank. The fungus was in the same exact spot where I observed what I thought was an injury. Whether it died as a result of the fungus or the fungus developed as the fish was rotting, I have no clue. 
 

good news, I believe the white spots on the other phantom were stress ich, as they seem to have disappeared from its fin. The salt and raising of temp seemed to have worked for now.
 

I have been running this tank unheated as I live in Florida and my room is heated to 76. I have noticed the temp fluctuate throughout the day and believe these low temps may have stressed the phantom tetras and caused stress ich. This is only a theory though and would really appreciate any advice.

is my tank possibly infected with a fungus and should I treat it with Ich X? I have read ich x is also great for fungal infections.

[Fish Folk]

Very sorry for your loss. I’ve found that fungus is everywhere. If you do a major water change, gravel vac, slow back feeding, and even treat with meds… you might pull it back. Fungus grows all over excess food or dead fish in half a day easily. If you can improve your flow, and keep the tank cleaner, you can dial it back.

Last year, I had a Threadfin Acara that got mauled by another. The injury site grew fungus, so I treated with API Fungus Cure (Victoria green). Here’s what that looked like for weeks…

 

[SupersoNick95]

On 4/3/2022 at 5:16 AM, Fish Folk said:

Very sorry for your loss. I’ve found that fungus is everywhere. If you do a major water change, gravel vac, slow back feeding, and even treat with meds… you might pull it back. Fungus grows all over excess food or dead fish in half a day easily. If you can improve your flow, and keep the tank cleaner, you can dial it back.

Last year, I had a Threadfin Acara that got mauled by another. The injury site grew fungus, so I treated with API Fungus Cure (Victoria green). Here’s what that looked like for weeks…

 

Thanks for the tip! So you’re saying the fungus may have just formed because it was injured not specifically because it was the fungus itself that killed him? 

Edited April 3, 2022 by SupersoNick95

[Fish Folk]

On 4/3/2022 at 9:08 AM, SupersoNick95 said:

Thanks for the tip! So you’re saying the fungus may have just formed because it was injured not speck because it was the fungus itself that killed him? 

Yeah. It is everywhere in our tanks. But worse if we overfeed and basically “grow it” it unawares. Once a fish is injured in a high-fungus tank, it can break out. And if untreated, fungus can kill the fish.

[SupersoNick95]

On 4/3/2022 at 9:18 AM, Fish Folk said:

Yeah. It is everywhere in our tanks. But worse if we overfeed and basically “grow it” it unawares. Once a fish is injured in a high-fungus tank, it can break out. And if untreated, fungus can kill the fish.

Thanks so much, I’m new to all of this and am most worried about my breeding pair of apistos getting sick. Should I go ahead and treat with fungus cure? 

[Fish Folk]

On 4/3/2022 at 10:24 AM, SupersoNick95 said:

Thanks so much, I’m new to all of this and am most worried about my breeding pair of apistos getting sick. Should I go ahead and treat with fungus cure? 

It won’t hurt as long as you carefully follow the instructions. Beware that the green stain will be epic. Change water as directed. If it says not to use certain conditioners with sulphur then use API water treatment. Prime and Fritz stink = sulphur. I can’t remember if that treatment mentioned that or not… maybe it was Ich-X… or something else.

Edited April 3, 2022 by Fish Folk